SUMMIT
SUCCESS
Alligator Records' Bruce Iglauer kicked off the formal proceedings with a moving and thoughtful keynote address.
MapleBlues' "roving reporter" Ruth Schweitzer was kept quite busy trying to keep up with all the activities around the Blues Summit weekend. Here's are some highlights of that memorable event for those that couldn't make it. See you next year!
Bruce Iglauer, the founder of Alligator Records, says it's a "crucial and dangerous" time for the blues and he finds it ironic that the United States Congress has declared this year, the Year of the Blues.
Older artists have died or retired and B.B. King, the current spokesperson for the blues, has no heirs, he said. "When B.B. is no longer, there won't be anyone who will step into his shoes."
Iglauer was delivering the keynote address at the January 2003 Blues Summit held at Toronto's Delta Chelsea Hotel. The Summit was attended by about 150 musicians, agents, managers, festival directors, blues society representatives and fans from across Canada and some border states.
Many fans may enjoy listening to older tunes, but the lyrics of such favourites as Albert King's "Cross Cut Saw" are not relevant to them, Iglauer said. "Blues will not continue to be a vital music if it doesn't speak to people today."
No one in the room responded when Iglauer asked if anyone had ever used a cross cut saw to cut wood.
He urged conference delegates to support artists such as Corey Harris and Otis Taylor and "their efforts in making something that's relevant to us."
The blues community should also nurture fans, said Iglauer, observing that delegates were mainly Caucasian, male and graying, with not a lot of people under 30.
The future of the blues became a theme of the Summit, and the subject was raised at panel discussions held during the two-day conference as well as at TBS vice president John Valenteyn's interview with Barry Dolins, the longtime artistic director of the Chicago Blues Festival.
"Blues is rooted in a folk tradition. It has longevity as any folk music has," Dolins said, and added that he can see blues merging into world music. Regarding the future of the music, he said, "let's talk when we're 80," adding that many older artists still continue to perform.
The blues audience is small and hard to reach, so marketing is key," Andrew Galloway, founder of Electro-Fi Records, said at the bringing-blues-to-market panel, hosted by Stony Plains Records founder Holger Petersen. The panel also included Iglauer, NorthernBlues Music founder Fred Litwin and Pat Turgeon, from Distribution Fusion III, the Canadian distributor of Alligator Records, and Justin Time Records.
Marketing a new blues CD is a struggle as major record stores are more concerned with how well the artist's previous recording has done at the cash register, than they are about the music, Iglauer said.
To get around that, Litwin built up one of his artists, Harry Manx, through independent record stores. Manx's latest CD, Wise And Otherwise, the best-selling Canadian blues album of 2002, has been nominated for a Juno. From the indies, "they're in big stores and it's a national thing," Litwin said.
Distribution Fusion III plans ad campaigns with independent stores such as Sam's in downtown Toronto. The next thing, the phone is ringing and it's a call from the majors, Turgeon said.
The Summit wasn't all business, though, and included the SOCAN songs and stories session, featuring Sue Foley, Paul Reddick, Harry Manx and Rob Lutes performing their songs. The energy raised by the performances was palpable as delegates spilled out into the hotel hallway from the meeting room.
Another popular Summit event was a photographic and anecdotal journey through blues history and a side trip through 1960s folk and rock, with Dick Waterman, a legendary American impresario who has managed Son House and Buddy Guy.
Waterman started out as a sports writer, but he said he changed direction in 1963, after seeing Mississippi John Hurt at the Newport Folk Festival.
Waterman has photographed dozens of blues artists, including Sleepy John Estes, Pinetop Perkins, Jack Dupree, Big Joe Williams, Roosevelt Sykes, Muddy Waters, Big Mama Thornton and Bonnie Raitt. His camera has also captured Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Bruce Springsteen, whom he once promoted.
Waterman recalled that John Lee Hooker was a warm man with a "wonderful handshake" and skin "like smooth suede." After the success of The Healer, in 1989, Hooker's price soared. "He ended up with four or five homes, full of TV sets and guitars."
Lightnin' Hopkins was "a real city guy" and "quintessential con man," Waterman said. He remembered Rev. Gary Davis setting his dressing room on fire while smoking and drinking; after the fire was extinguished, Davis lit another cigarette. Of the many artists he's known and worked with, Waterman called Son House "the greatest."
One of the liveliest discussions of the Summit took place at the life-in-the-blues-clubs panel, when the subject of late club hours was raised by the host of the panel, Mark Neveu of Dunnville, Ontario's Readers' Café. Neveu said that he's in bed by 1:00 a.m. after a show because of the Café's early start times.
Panelist Phil Morrison, Healey's manager, said that "no one shows up until 10:00 p.m. You can't get a decent crowd earlier."
Then the audience jumped in and the discussion heated up. The Colonel pointed out that weekend matinees in the city are packed. Morrison held his ground, though, even when the Colonel suggested that Healey's Saturday-afternoon matinees, with Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards, are a success.
Audience member Eddy B. said subway hours weren't extended when bar closing times moved from l:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. in 1996, adding that the province ought to roll back bar hours. Another audience member said that if earlier hours are offered consistently, people will come out.
From the Summit's opening reception, hosted by NorthernBlues Music, to showcases at the Silver Dollar, Healey's and RD's BBQ & Blues and through to the final panels, the Canadian blues community connected, with many business cards exchanged. It was a success, and TBS president Derek Andrews wants to do it again. "Hopefully, we'll be back, even better organized and bringing more people together," he said.
- Ruth Schweitzer